Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World (40 page)

American and British efforts to understand the Arab and Muslim response to Axis propaganda were not nearly as comprehensive as were the efforts to monitor the broadcasts themselves. The Allies knew vastly more about what the Italians and Germans were conveying than they did about how the message was received. The public opinion poll of a representative cross section of foreign populations was not yet part of American intelligence gathering. Though knowledge of Arabic among the American diplomats was thin, native speakers played an important but difficult to document role in following the Arabic-language press. The result was a dearth of synthetic analysis of the Arab and Muslim response to fascism and Nazism. That said, reports from agents of the OSS, American military intelligence, and British diplomats and intelligence agents offered policy makers in Washington and London many pieces of information about Arab and Muslim views and the impact of Allied and Axis policies and propaganda in the region.

On March 7, two U.S. Military Intelligence Division agents in Beirut, Duncan McBryde and Virgil Jackson, wrote, "As far as German Arabic broadcasts to Moslems are concerned, America really 'put its foot into it' by releasing news of a Senate Committee [Wagner-Taft] resolution on `Palestine for the Jews.' It is Axis propaganda departments' practice to jump upon such chances and exploit them to the utmost." That is, news about American support for a Jewish state in Palestine and for ending restrictions on Jewish immigration was grist for the mill of Nazi propaganda. McBryde and Jackson noted that a "small percentage" of Arabs had radios. Yet from "reliable sources in both Syrian and Lebanese capitals," they learned that "practically all Arabs who have radios and listen to any variety of programs, listen to Berlin." The Arabs, they continued, did not "take German `news' at all seriously," and the effect of German news reporting was "practically nil." Rather, Berlin radio broadcasts achieved their greatest impact through "the clever and full exploitation of half-truths, and occasional events." Berlin broadcasts seized "the curiosity, the credulity, the avarice, the aspirations, the religious instincts or the racial prejudice, etc., of the Arabs" to fan their antagonism to the Jews and the Allies. "The most recent and one of the most effective tirades the Germans have delivered deals with the American Senate resolution on `Palestine for the Jews.' It is difficult to estimate how much of the effect is caused by enemy radio as over against regular press dispatches, but the effect has been tremendous. Aroused public indignation has successfully demanded protests from the Arab countries to the United States. As this report is being written, Germany has already hailed Roosevelt as the `Modern Moses' who will `lead the children of Israel out of the wilderness: No imagination is required to picture the inevitable effectiveness of this type of propaganda on the anti-Jewish Arab populace."75

In the same weeks, an unsigned and undated "Weekly Review of Foreign Broadcasts" done for the U.S. Military Intelligence Division concluded: "the anti-Jewish theme has in the past constituted a good half of the German propaganda directed toward the Near East. Constant vilification of the Jews in terms calculated to make them repugnant to the Arab mind have included alleged attempts by the Jews on the life of Mohammed and their imputed domination of the Allied policies in the Near East (the Allied Nations in these Berlin broadcasts are referred to as Allied Jewish Nations'). In recent weeks the Arabic voice in Berlin has surpassed all its previous records in inciting violence in Palestine. The culmination of this crescendo was Haj Amin's call to arms."76 The report was referring to Husseini's March i appeal to "kill the Jews wherever you find them."

The "constant vilification" continued in April. On the fourth, Berlin in Arabic announced that "every free Arab is boiling with rage and indignation at London's plans against the Arabs and we all feel that an Anglo-Saxon victory would mean the loss of Palestine by the Arabs and the strengthening of Jewish domination. On the other hand, the Germans are our natural and staunch allies whose victory will mean our complete independence and liberation."77 On the sixteenth, it counted among the advantages of the National Socialist regime the fact that the world had "benefited" because the Nazis brought "the Jewish danger to the world's notice." This danger was destructive not only in Germany but in other nations as well. It was a "glory for Germany that the other nations support her in the struggle against the Jews." The announcer noted that "the purging campaign which the National Socialists carried out attracted the attention of the Arab countries, thus linking them with Germany in their struggle against the Jews."78 In what McBryde and Jackson described as an "anti-Jewish populace," reports of Nazi persecution and extermination of the Jews constituted a significant aspect of Nazism's appeal to its Arab and Muslim supporters. On April 22, Berlin in Arabic attacked both Britain and Russia. "The Jews are the biggest enemies of the Arabs. Bolshevism is mere Judaism. Therefore the Bol sheviks are the enemies of the Arabs and Moslems."79 The evidence for both assertions lay in Jewish immigration to Palestine and plans for a Jewish national home.

Rashid Ali Kilani was heard less frequently on Nazi radio than Husseini, the more talented radio personality. Yet on May 3 he again spoke about Iraq's battle against British imperialism and also denounced Zionism and Bolshevism. "It is," he said, "with pride that I speak of the alliance between the Arabs and the Axis, quite confident that the Arabs will be able, through their Ally, to realize their aspirations." He was "filled with admiration for the patriotism and courage of the Germans" and was "embued with confidence that Germany will win victory." This generally secular nationalist concluded as follows: "God said: Be not weakened, be not grieved. You are predominant."80 On May 9, an exchange of cables between Kilani and Ribbentrop was read on Berlin in Arabic. Ribbentrop's read: "Your Excellency, my sincerest congratulations on your successful struggle against the common foe, on the occasion of the third anniversary of the rising of the brave Iraqi people under your leadership in face of the British tyrants. I staunchly believe that the struggle will terminate in victory and will bring about liberty to our peoples including the people of Iraq and the other Arab nations." For his part, Kilani replied: "I thank Your Excellency greatly for your cable on the occasion of the third anniversary of Iraq's rising in the face of British tyranny. I thank Your Excellency for your sincere greetings and the joining of the German people in the celebration of this historic day. Your Excellency's cable both strengthens the Arabs in their struggle and assured them of the splendid future which awaits the Arab countries when victory is won. This victory will be the greatest in history, and Germany will achieve it through the splendid struggle of her people who have shown a magnificent spirit of sacrifice."81

During the fighting in Italy, the Luftwaffe dropped thousands of copies of a leaflet aimed at Arab soldiers fighting alongside Allied forces. On May i8, Berlin in Arabic broadcast the text of "Allied Lies."

Arab soldiers! Among the organs of propaganda of the Allies against the Arabs is the method of creating an atmosphere of hatred among the Arabs and the Germans. You must know that Germany fights the Jews and fights all the enemies of the Arabs. The object of Allied propaganda is to send you to Italy to die for a cause which will do you no good. On the other hand, Germany has always proved that she is the staunch friend of the Arabs. This was clearly manifested during the recent [1942] battles in North Africa where the Germans have proved their love and respect for the Arab countries and Moslem civilization.

Arabs! You all know that Germany concluded a pact with Amin El Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, who was chased out of the Arab countries and who was welcomed in Germany, against the Jews and the Allies. Needless to say, the Allies and the Jews are the people responsible for all the catastrophes that were inflicted on the Arab countries and on Arabism. Germany is fighting to prevent the menace of Jewry from harming her, and this is the common interest of both Arabs and Germans.82

Following the arguments of German diplomats and propagandists since 1936, when they convinced the Egyptian Olympic team that it would be welcome at the Berlin Olympics, the leaflet sought to reassure Arab soldiers that Nazi Germany's policies were directed against the Jews, not the Arabs. The leaflet assumed bedrock hostility to Jews among its Arab recipients. It was, like all of Nazi antiSemitic propaganda, both a tool of warfare intended to encourage defection among the enemy armies as well as an expression of firmly believed ideology.

Almost none of the Nazi propaganda in Arabic was directed at women. The broadcast of May 20, during the fighting in Italy, was an exception, with Berlin in Arabic announcing that the "Anglo-American and de Gaullist traitors send the Arabs of North Africa to their death" in "the Jewish war."

Moslems and Arab mothers and women of North Africa! [Charles] de Gaulle, the French traitor, has driven your men to Italy in order to have them die as prey in the Jewish war which was started by Churchill and Roosevelt. Do not let a single Moslem or a single Arab die for the sake of your enemy. Fight against your real enemy and thus you will be revenging those who have died on the Italian front. Do not fight for the enemy who has always been against you and who has always tried to destroy your religion.... The German soldiers are not their enemies but it is the British, the Americans and the French who are the enemies of the Arabs....

Arab men in Italy! Help the Germans against your joint enemy! We appeal to the women of North Africa to let their men know that they must desert the Allies and fight side by side with the Germans, and they will be welcomed by the German forces. The Arabs of the whole world must all fight against their traditional enemies the British, Americans, French, the Jews and the Bolsheviks.83

Amid the blizzard of mutual congratulations, predictions of victory, and appeals for greater militancy, the reality of some events was too great to be ignored. On June 6,1944, VFA acknowledged that the Allied invasion of France had begun. In a stunningly uninformative broadcast it reported, "This war on the Northern coast [of France] is a real war which will decide the fate of the world, which either will be dominated by the various powers of international Jewry or will lead to the victory of Germany-the victory of liberty and justice to the whole world."84 The following evening, VFA assessed Arab reaction to the news. It claimed that the invasion was "a great shock to the people of Palestine" and that "the Arabs" believed that a success for Britain and America would be a success for the Jews and would "strengthen the Jewish aims in Palestine." The news "disturbed the Arabs very much and made them once more fearful of their future."85 On June 8,VFA predicted that if the Allies were to win the war, Egypt and the other Arab countries would lose their independence. Indeed, the Arabs would be even worse off than after World War I because this time "the Bolsheviks will share the Arab countries with the British."86

In contrast to the lack of detail in its reporting on the Normandy invasion, Berlin in Arabic on June 24 informed its audience of a remarkable aspect of auto accidents in Palestine. Though car accidents happened all over the world, "it is noted that these accidents in Palestine always involve the Arab people" as victims. Information at Berlin in Arabic's disposal "shows that the Jews are running down the Arabs with their cars.... These car accidents were not the only methods used by the Jews to exterminate the Arabs. We must not forget that in Haifa and Jerusalem the Jews threw bombs at the inhabitants."87 This, too, was part of the worse future that the Arabs might have to confront. The likelihood of a grim future loomed large in the broadcasts of summer 1944, and as had been the case since the war began, the standpoint from which everything was judged in Nazi propaganda was the fate of Palestine and the role of the Jews in the Middle East. On August i, Berlin in Arabic declared, "Imperialist and Jewish ambitions in the Arab countries will shake the pillars of patriotism and will help the Bolsheviks to consolidate their footing and their domination over the Arab countries." The Jews of Palestine would receive "great military help from Moscow" in addition to the help "they already receive from the British and the Americans." Russia would "strengthen the power of the Jews" and "help them against the Arabs." So the Arabs needed to be aware of the "evils of the Jews and the Bolsheviks!"88 In fact, during the war, the United States and Britain imposed a weapons embargo on Palestine.

In a year of bad news for the Nazis, Rommel's death in October added to the somber mood. On the sixteenth, Berlin in Arabic recalled his "smashing successes." They were "marked with his typical brilliance of execution in Cyre naica, Tobruk, Maran Matruh, and Alamein." Those events "still echo in our ears." His memory would "always inspire the Arabs who are oppressed by foreign interference to achieve their independence of which Rommel was cham- pion."89 By contrast, on October 21, Berlin in Arabic reported that it was "true that Roosevelt is insane and daft. This has been proved since Roosevelt tried to include America in this war while she had nothing to fight against, or for.... We warn our listeners to treat Roosevelt as a completely mad person; even the Americans believe that Roosevelt is not sane."90 In the absence of any good news to report, Berlin in Arabic reported that Ribbentrop and Husseini, that is, "the Grand Mufti of Palestine," exchanged congratulatory greetings on November 5. Ribbentrop was "sure" that final victory, "which Palestine is fighting for under your leadership," would arrive and with it the abolition of the "so-called Jewish national home." Husseini expressed "great confidence" in Germany's final victory, which "will undoubtedly destroy the Jewish nation and will accordingly help to maintain the freedom and independence of Palestine and the Arab 991 countries.

Contrary to his tale of suffering, Husseini received a regular salary from the Nazi regime. German officials became exasperated with his constant requests for more funds. He was housed in a comfortable villa in an affluent section of Berlin. He regularly met with high-ranking officials in the Foreign Ministry and had access to Himmler and high-ranking officers in the SS. His entourage had jobs working on German Arabic-language print and radio propaganda. Nazi radio and newspapers spread his fame far beyond what it had been when he led the Palestine national movement and then was a coup plotter in Iraq. His voice was heard on the radio, and his words and photo appeared on thousands of leaflets distributed in Arab and Muslim countries. He became "world" famous. He did not suffer. Rather, this man of small, cramped, and violent hatred found a place on the world stage due to the contingencies of time, geography, and his own political skills. He used those opportunities to facilitate one of the most important cultural exchanges of the twentieth century in merging the sentiments of hatred and destruction that were part of the traditions of Europe and of Islam into an ideological brew that caused immense suffering during and after his life. Husseini, however, was not alone. A focus on him can divert our attention from the broader cultural traditions, radical anti-Semitism in Europe, and antagonism to the Jews in some of the traditions of Islam that made his emergence and prominence possible. Without this context and back ground, his message would not have resonated. Indeed, he would not have had a message to convey.